


Part 4: The Earth Blade

by HeroOfMorderan



Series: Hero of Morderan [4]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 17:24:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11925660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroOfMorderan/pseuds/HeroOfMorderan





	Part 4: The Earth Blade

I didn’t sleep that well. Maybe it was the excitement of getting the Earth Blade, maybe I was still worked up from escaping that lizard dungeon yesterday. I thought about it a lot while I was looking up at the stars. Curtlik had the last watch shift, so she was still sleeping. The bird we had the night before wasn’t very filling, so it didn’t take long before I was hungry for breakfast.   
The sun was coming out, so I felt comfortable exploring a bit further from camp. Not too far, if anything came I would be there before it got Curtlik, but far enough to find some food. While I was hunting, the memories of the previous day ran through my head. It really was fun, I’d fight with her anywhere. Still, there were things I wanted answered. Curtlik said it would be a few hours before we got to the cave, so we’d have time to talk while we walked.   
I think the first thing I want to ask her was what that lizard said about Galithan. I’m beginning to worry about what that could mean. I also want to, though I dare not, ask about those veins. I fear they hold a darkness as deep as King Galithan himself, and I don’t know what I would do if I knew that as fact. Besides, she’s helping now, so I can’t complain too much.  
I also want to ask her about her thoughts on killing. I’ve been doing it, and I’ve been convincing myself it’s the right thing to do, but I can’t shake the guilt I feel looking down at their bodies.   
These thoughts ran through my head as I hunted. I stalked through the grass, using the skills Curtlik taught me. It wasn’t long before I found a nice boar. I slowly cooked it over the fire with herbs I found, waiting for Curtlik to get up. I wonder if she’s dreaming about anything.   
We left not long after eating and cleaning up camp. She really liked breakfast too, by the way. I was pretty proud of myself. You never liked when I cooked boar, she said it was the best she ever had, so take that. The Earth Blade is somewhere in the desert. I can’t tell you exactly where, but it’s a good days trip away, so we wasted no time.   
After a few minutes of silence, I decided to give conversation a shot. I felt less nervous this time, I think we’re close at this point. “I was thinking, did it seem weird to you that the lizard thing mentioned Galithan and the swords? Those aren’t things everyone knows, right?”  
“I was thinking about that too.” Yeah, we’re totally on the same page. “The creatures must have captured us to make sure we couldn’t get the swords, or maybe they wanted to interrogate us into tell them where they are. They could be acting on their own to get the swords themselves and use their power for their own agenda, but I’m familiar with their race, they’re not that smart. There working for someone. If Galithan has come back, it’s possible that they’re working for him. He must have gotten them to capture us to get more information about the swords. If that’s true, this could be worse than we expected. If King Galithan is going after the swords, this mission is more urgent than we thought. Not only do we have to get them before he grows to power, but we have to get them before he does.”  
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” That never occurred to me. To be fair, I probably would have gotten there eventually, but yeah I had no idea about all that. “I know we’re supposed to bring each sword back to Haledine when we find them, but maybe we can save some time by just going to get them all before we go back?”  
“That’s a good idea,” she agreed. Hehe, it was, wasn’t it? “I’ll send a note to him when we rest to let him know our plan.”  
“We’ll get the swords in no time, I think we have a great strategy. I’ve never really fought with anyone before. I guess you’ve probably fought with a lot of people before, hu?” I looked down at my feet. I was nervous to look at her. She didn’t answer immediately, and during that time I tried to convince myself that I asked a good question.  
“A few, yes. Not really anymore, we didn’t work out well. Don’t worry, you’re doing fine.” I looked up into the horizon, still avoiding eye contact, but I could feel her eyes on me. I could tell she was smiling. I hope I wasn’t blushing, I never could tell when I was blushing. It was hot, so if I was maybe she thought it was just the sun.   
“Thanks, I mean I fought a little with my ex-wife, you know, but, uh, I haven’t seen her in a while. Not fight like yelling, I meant, like, fighting how we were talking about it. Not that we didn’t other kind of fight, but that’s not what I meant.” Oh jeeze, I really messed that up.  
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She frowned. I made it awkward.  
“No, it’s fine, I mean we’ve both moved on. She’s a great person, I still care about her and all, but like you said, it just didn’t really work out well.”  
“I get it. Well like I said, you’re great.” I think she was looking at me. I took the chance, daring my head to turn to her. There she was, not like I expected her not to be there, but a little bit of me always gets excited to see her. It’s a special moment. We held each other’s gaze.  
“Thanks, you too.” I guess it was pretty hot out, her face was all red. I let out a nervous laugh and we walked on.  
We walked for a few hours and decided to rest here for lunch. Curtlik said she’d go out and get lunch since I got breakfast. It’s a really beautiful day. Have you ever come in from outside on a hot day, and your mouth is so dry? Your sweat is salty, and it collects on your upper lip, only making you more thirsty. You’re tired, and you’re weighed down by every effort. Your feet drag, and you can’t get to cold water fast enough. Then finally you have it, and you fight the urge to drink it all at once, wanting to save it for the comforting relaxation of the couch, so you compromise and just have a sip. If anything, it just gets you excited for when you finally sit down. The couch is so soft, so inviting, and it soaks up all your exhaustion. All your stress melts away as you enjoy the nice cold water. It doesn’t make you happy, not that you’re unhappy. You’re content. The thing about being happy is that, deep down, you fear the moment when it goes away. You resent the future where this isn’t your reality and you have to go to work and this present abandons you. No, this moment on the couch is peace. It’s good, and all you have to do is enjoy this moment.  
That’s how I feel now. I intellectually know there’s still evil out there, with King Galithan it’s as bad as ever, but right now that doesn’t matter. I know I’ll have to probably risk my life and suffer the pains of battle, but right now that doesn’t matter. Right now, all that matters is that it’s a nice, warm day, and almost as if the wind is in on the plan, it’s blowing gently to keep us cool. Curtlik is out getting a lunch I couldn’t be more excited for, and for right now, things are good. It’s like the colors are more crisp, more vibrant, more bright, like they’re cheering, also content with the day. Spirits are high.  
It’s been a while since I looked at the clouds. They can make such interesting shapes sometimes, like they’re playing a game, challenging us to figure out what they look like. I don’t think I’ll play, I think I’ll just appreciate how unique they are. Why do they have to be anything? Why can’t I just appreciate them for being there? That’s what I’m doing, anyway.  
I’m grateful, I think that’s what it is. I’m grateful for you. Sure, I didn’t have you for long, and for that I feel terrible, but I’m grateful for the moments we did have together. Even for that small amount of time, you changed my life. I don’t think I’d be here if you didn’t inspire me, encourage me to be brave and go on this mission. I don’t think I ever thanked you enough or told you how much I cared. If I ever see you again, I want to change that.   
Curtlik said it’s good to be nervous because it means we care. All this time I thought that meant I cared about the mission and protecting Haledine. I don’t think that’s true though. I mean, yes, I obviously care and want to do that, but I think there’s a deeper reason. I think deep down, I think about you. I think I get nervous and scared because I’m afraid that if I don’t make it out of whatever fight or battle, I won’t be able to see you again. That’s worse than anything I could imagine. I’ve been thinking about this mission all wrong. I’ve thought, I’ll protect and save Haledine, and I’ll help you, and I’ll see you. It was always AND you. But no, it’s not AND. You’re not an AND, something that gets added on as a plus at the end. It’s ONLY you. It’s ALWAYS you. You’re first. I fight because of you, for you, and only you. It’s not and you, it’s only you. It’s a nice day.   
Lunch was good, we didn’t talk about much. Look, I’m not going to recount every meal and every conversation we had, ok? It wasn’t much longer after we ate that we made it to the entrance of where the Earth Blade was. Now this looked like the entrance to a cave. The wind was strong here, making it almost invisible until we were right at the entrance. Nested in the side of a sand dune was a stone arch. At the top of the arc, carved into the stone, was a sword, the top of which was a rising sun. This was it. I wasn’t scared, I was excited. I was hungry to discover what waited for us in there.  
As we approached the entrance to the cave, the wind grew stronger. It roared in our ears, and each step we took was a struggle to keep our balance. No sooner did we step our feet got covered in easily half a foot of sand. I squinted, covering my eyes, but making sure to not lose sign of Curtlik. We stayed close, but it felt like one wrong move could easily separate us. It was worse right under the entrance. Sand assaulted my senses. My vision only saw the wall of sand before me, and each step I took was only based on my memory of the right direction. I called out, but chocked on the sand that flooded my mouth. There was no point in listening for her, only the wind screamed, called out against me. I felt alone, trapped. I swam through the sand, dropping to my hands and knees for better stability. Head down and eyes closed, I pushed on.  
Then it stopped. I froze, slowly becoming aware of my surrounding. I had passed through the entrance, some barrier protecting us from the storm. Curtlik was already there, shaking sand out of her hair. I let out a long sigh, I was already exhausted, but I knew there was no time to stop. I rose and dusted myself off. I looked to Curtlik who seemed to be finishing doing the same. She asked if I was alright. I was fine, and let her know, then asked about herself. “Never better.” She said, dumping sand out of her quiver.   
Once we were ready, we looked to the room we were in. It was bad. We stood on a raised platform, about fifteen feet up from the ground. On either side were stone steps along the wall leading to the ground- a large circular area thirty feet across. On the opposite side of the room was a door. The floor was what took my breath. Rather, what was on it. It was a horrifying sight, an image I never imagined seeing.   
The ground was scattered with bodies. What made it worse was that it wasn’t just one or two races, it was a collection of the most feared and despised races. Declared enemies of Haledine. Goblins and orcs, some completely dismembered, others contorted into disturbing positions, shared the floor with those lizard creatures from before, wolves who seemed to take the shape of humans, and even giant spiders all lie dead on the floor beneath us. When we investigated closer, we found them pierced with arrows and darts, some dipped in poison. Other bodies were charred, making identifying their race impossible.  
You’re probably wondering how this is a bad thing. A bunch of enemies are dead, why am I complaining? At first glance, you’d be right, but there’s only one time these races have ever worked together, and that’s when they united under King Galithan. He’d come back. The only consolation is that they died before we had to fight them.   
We moved out attention to the room itself. At the bottom of the steps was a thin wire, broken at the center. Along the walls and floor were small holes. This room was a giant trap. It’s unlikely someone could find all the triggers in this place, but they could certainly set them all off. They must have come for the sword and not made it past the first room. It didn’t mean we could let our guard down, though. It’s possible some made it past, and there were probably more traps the deeper we went.   
We were right. As we walked further down the hallway on the opposite side of the room, we found pressure plate after trip wire. A few were tripped, releasing giant falling axes or spikes from the walls. Others we set off ourselves. As we walked, neither of us saw it, and Curtlik must have gotten lucky and just stepped over, but my foot caught the end of a wire, sending rocks down on my head.   
There were some bodies along the way, those who made it past the first room/ Maybe they waited, anticipating something like that, then moved once it was safe. The further we went, the less common they were. The long trap filled hallway finally opened to another large room. Our feet stopped on the soft dirt ground. Stone walls rose high and curved to form the ceiling. Stalactites hung down, water collecting on their tips and dropping to the ground.   
It looked like some stalactites fell, and pierced themselves in the ground. One even hit something. My eyes focused on the body, craning my neck to get a better view. Not one, but two creatures revealed themselves. Dead on the ground were two of those giant goblinoid creatures I fought when I got the Necklace of the Land. Fear instantly rushed over my body. I could hardly take one of those, and whatever is in this room was able to defeat too. We had to be careful.  
We stood for a moment at the opening of the room, waiting. There wasn’t anything in particular we were waiting for, but the last large room we were in was full of traps, so maybe we were just waiting for something to explode. Across the room was a giant boulder. It looked like it was placed to cover a small alcove in the wall.   
“So, do we just go?” I asked, unsure of what else to do.  
“I don’t see any traps, but let me go first. Cover me.” Curtlik answered in a whisper, almost as if talking any louder would set off some trap armed in the room. I drew my bow and scanned the room. Holding my breath, I watched her take her first step into the opening. She moved slowly, ready to jump back at the first sign of danger. Her heel made soft contact with the dirt. Moving forward, she put her foot down, preparing to take the next step.  
No sooner did her back foot leave the dirt, a low rumbling began to grow in the ground. We both crouched down to keep our balance during the earthquake. More stalactites fell from the ceiling, one driving itself into the torso of a dead giant goblin. Soon the shaking passed, and again we stood waiting in the entrance of the room.  
“I’m going to move in.” She said. Her voice was less confident, I think the earthquake had unnerved her. One of the previously fallen stalactites had collapsed on the ground, making the goblinoid creatures clearly visible. Was she as scared of what their death meant as I was?  
“Good luck.” I whispered.  
She had taken a few calculated steps in when the rumbling started again. This time it wasn’t the whole ground that shook, just the rock across the room. Out from the ground came two rock arms that lifted the rock torso off the floor. Feet stepped out last, two giant boulders covered in moss. In all, the rock creature stood easily ten feet tall. It was massive, and its feet sunk into the ground with each thundering step.   
The good news was that it was slow, and I don’t think rock is that smart, so I had some hope. It didn’t move much closer to us after the first few steps, almost like it was guarding whatever was behind it. Instinctually, I shot my arrow at the creature. Sailing past the stalactites, it merely bounced off the stone. Arrows weren’t going to cut it, that stone was too hard to break.   
“Wait.” Curtlik held out her hand in front of me. “We can take out time, I don’t think that thing is going to attack us unless we get close.” I lowered my bow, and finally stepped into the room with her.  
“Arrows aren’t going to hurt that, it’s made of rock. We aren’t going to be able to do anything by just cutting it. We’re either going to have to crush it or stab it. My sword is strong enough to pierce it, but see if one of those goblin things had a morning star or mace you could use.”  
“Works for me, I’ll be right behind you.” I looked to the huge goblinoid creatures, then to Curltik. She paused for a moment.  
“Then let’s do this.” She said, then moved towards the living rock. I trusted her, and I told myself I was going to be more helpful this time around. “It will be more effective if we attack the same point, that way we might be able to break through the rock. Let’s switch out, one person can distract while the other attacks a point on the side.” She continued.  
“Sounds good to me, I’ll attack first, you block.”  
“Fine, just make sure you save some fun for me.”  
The giant arms clashed with Curtlik’s sword. I slid past them and used the morning star I lifted on my way to attack the rock guardian. I stayed alert, making sure I wouldn’t get blindsided again. The morning star chipped at the stone until I became the target of attack. He was slow, so I could block or dodge the attacks, but resisting the continuous pounding tested my resolution.   
I strained against what would be a fist, pushing down on the neck of the morning star I was using to block the attack. Glancing over, I watched as Curtlik stabbed her sword at the exact spot I attacked earlier. I don’t know how much longer I could distract this thing, so I took a deep breath, calling out as I exhaled. “Switch!”  
Stopping her attack, she moved to me. Cutting at the creature’s arms pressing down on me, she held their weight with her sword, allowing me to step back. She never ceases to impress me. As I moved out of the way, I looked back to her. She was smiling. Her eyes looked up to the beast, and she was actually smiling, like she was having fun taking on this new challenge. I don’t know how she does it.  
When I got to the side, I saw where she was attacking previously. She made great progress: cracks were starting to form around the wound. If she could hold in there, I might be able to finish this.  
“Hang in there!” I shouted.  
“Ha! Look who’s talking!” She replied. Taking another deep inhale, I lifted my weapon high over my head and brought it down onto the rock’s side. The crash of rock on steel echoed through the room, followed by the soft thud of the morning star falling to the ground. Again, I lifted it high and brought it down exactly where it was before. Pieces of rock fell off. I stayed focused on the one point. Again, I swung down. Again, more rock fell off, more this time, bigger pieces.   
Once more, I gathered my strength. Everything I had went into this swing. With both hands, I landed the final hit. A loud crash boomed as the side of the creature crumbled like dust to the ground. The second half fell to the ground before it too crumbled.   
We looked at each other, both breathing heavily. I shared her joy, then. It was a good fight, almost fun. We worked well together.   
“Good job.” She said.  
“Thanks, you too. I couldn’t let you get all the kills on this mission.” I joked. She only scoffed, letting out a quick laugh before moving towards the opening the rock creature was protecting. There were markings, like glyphs along the long silver blade that dug deep into the soil. The green handle had a small sapphire at the bottom, and the hilt curved up towards the blade on both sides. At the base on the sword was a small green triangle with the tip pointed along the blade. It was the Earth Blade.


End file.
